December 7, 1941 – “a date which will live in infamy…” declared then president Franklin D. Roosevelt, one day after Japan’s attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. An hour after this famous speech, the United States was officially brought into World War II.
The USS Arizona was one of 20 battleships and other large vessels that were sunk that day, and some 2,000+ people were killed. The Arizona was too badly damaged to be raised, repaired, and returned to service, so it remains beneath the waters of Pearl Harbor, along with the bodies of most of her crew. Today, the USS Arizona Memorial honors those who died on the battleship and elsewhere in the Japanese attack.
I don’t think you really “enjoy” being here, but it is an important place to visit, honor, give gratitude, remember, and reflect….
